999S Cam Dialling and Exhausts

We’ve done the cam timing on a few 999S so far, but as yet I haven’t been able to tune them. Which makes the whole process somewhat frustrating. Duane has been playing with one of the bikes I’ve done, working toward getting his ECU to talk to the electronic dashboards the bikes now have. So while he didn’t end up with the final product, he has had a play with mapping one. I believe he has a 999 Strada with 50mm 2-1-2 running on his U59 ECU as I type this, so hopefully he’ll be releasing them soon.

One of the other bikes was a 999S fitted with the Termi 57mm 2-1-2 system. These 102 Db systems are aimed at the Superstock race series that are gaining popularity in Europe. I was told a while ago that the cam timing I had chosen for the 998S back when I first played with one of them was pretty much the same as Ducati were recommending for the 998/999S engines when running in the Superstock class. And it would appear that the ECU supplied with the 57mm 2-1-2 system is based on this cam timing, certainly more so than the original or cheaper “muffler kit” ECU.

The previous report for a 999S with the 57mm system showed an air/fuel curve that was rather rich in the midrange, which made me think the 108/107 cam timing would help both the power and the fuelling. The owner of that bike is talking about getting the cam timing done, but I had another bike in bits getting some cosmetic upgrades so we played with it while the frame was off. Having an engine sitting on a stand makes all this work much easier to do. Getting it that way wasn’t so easy, but you expect that the first time you pull something new to bits. I also lightened the flywheel. The 999 flywheels are a little different to the older ones. The alternator magnet basket seems quite a bit lighter, but the flywheel is heavier to match it would appear. I’m not sure how much heavier, as our little scales only go to about 2.2kg – the older piece is just on 1900 grams. You can machine it down to about 865g just the same though.

So once it was all back together we went to the dyno for some runs. Given that I couldn’t really do anything about tuning it, these were just to see where we’d ended up. Given the results for the previous 57mm system, I wasn’t that confident of the result I was hoping for. But, as it turns out, that’s pretty much what we got.

The first graph shows the bike from the previous 57mm exhaust report in green as all std, and blue with the 57mm system and ECU installed. The only difference this latest 999S has is dialled cams, shown by the red curve. This is the first time I’ve dyno’d this particular bike, so I don’t have a definitive before/after yet. But this result is rather promising. And relieving – I was starting to wonder if there was something inherently wrong with the 999S. As expected, the curve shape hasn’t changed, just lifted. Which is what I usually expect from cam timing changes.

The second graph shows torque and air/fuel. The air/fuel isn’t perfect, but it is a lot better than the previous bike.

The peak of 133hp is what I’ve seen from the 998S’s I’ve done, so I was most relieved to see that number. The midrange is still lacking compared to a 998S, but that may have to do with the exhaust size – the 998S runs a 50mm system in the usual 916 chassis style. I’d like to run a 999S with the 50mm 2-1-2 system, just to see what it gains and loses compared to the 57mm. The next graph compares this 999S to one of the 998S – this 999S is in red. Above 7,000 RPM there’s really no difference, so it would be very interesting to see which bike was faster on the track with matched riders.

The owner is very happy too. With the 57mm system, cam timing, lightened flywheel and 14 tooth front sprocket, it makes for a very fast and smooth bike. And it’s all fairly simple stuff, albeit rather expensive in terms of exhaust at least.

The second of the 999S had the cheaper “muffler kit” exhaust fitted, along with the kit ECU. The owner of this bike had purchased a Power Commander to tune the bike after I’d done the cam timing, so that made the job somewhat easier for me. Just do my bit and hand it back. Dave at Dynobike fitted and tuned the PC so I got to see the results afterward. I also ran this bike before I started just to see how it went. As has been the case so far, the before runs – with the muffler kit and ECU fitted – left me very under whelmed. At least I hadn’t touched it at that point (so it wasn’t my fault).

After we’d done the cam timing Dave did the tuning work, so we have runs for std with muffler kit in green, after cam dialling, but before tuning in blue and after tuning (final) in red. Power first, then torque.

The power peak is certainly down on what most would be expecting for a 999S, but I’m kind of getting used to seeing that. I have no idea why, but I can only assume it has to do with the exhaust sizing and maybe system design. Nothing I can do anything about personally. The owner of this bike was very happy with the result. It also had the flywheel lightened, which combined with the 14 tooth front sprocket makes them a very nice thing to ride.

The final graph compares the two bikes. The only differences between the two are the exhaust and the ECU. Green is the 57mm system, red the std header muffler kit. Fairly obvious difference.

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